Apple will not roll out iPadOS 27 to any iPad with an A12 or A12X chip, leaving five models out in the cold for the company’s next tablet OS.
Devices sold from 2018 to 2020 are affected by the change, as Apple raises iPad prices across the board.
The cutoff removes the 2019 iPad Air (3rd generation), the 2019 iPad mini (5th generation), the 2018 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models, as well as the 2020 iPad (8th generation). All five iPads are powered by either the A12 or A12X processor.
Apple gave these devices six to eight years of software updates, longer than most tablet makers provide, but the timing is suspicious. All iPhones that ran iOS 26 will support iOS 27. The iPad side is taking a harder line.
There has been a lot of criticism for how well iPadOS 26 performs. Some tech experts have argued that Apple should either allow owners to downgrade to iPadOS 18 or find a way to bring iPadOS 27 to the dropped hardware.
A downgrade path is technically doable. Apple still ships security patches for iOS 18. iPadOS 18.7.9 landed about a month ago, so the older operating system stays actively maintained.
Apple’s current policy blocks downgrades by “unsigning” old firmware versions when a new release ships. Apple first restricted Stage Manager to M1 iPads on iPadOS 16 in 2022, then relented and released it for the 2018 and 2020 iPad Pro models following criticism. Those older iPad Pros ran Stage Manager without support for an external display.
Full windowing in iPadOS 27 may require a bit more GPU headroom and RAM than 4 GB can provide on the A12. Apple never made a public explanation. The iPadOS 27 beta is about three weeks old. If the public backlash increases, Apple may broaden device compatibility ahead of the fall release.
The change announcement, comes a day after Apple hiked the iPad prices. The base iPad is now $449, up from $349. iPad Air was increased to $749 from $599. The iPad Pro increased from $999 to $1,199.
Apple attributed the increases to the cost of memory components driven by the build out of AI infrastructure.
“The consumer electronics industry is facing an unprecedented challenge. The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage. We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly.” an Apple official told Julisha Media.
Memory prices jumped more than fourfold since late 2025, and higher bills of materials are a lasting challenge. Smartphone DRAM prices increased 50% and NAND flash storage prices rose by more than 90% Q/Q in Q1 2026. For a user owning the 2019 iPad Air, which is out of software support, it’s now $100+ more expensive to trade in for the lowest-end iPad than last quarter.
